Remember Me
by Resident Nut Job and Midget from Your Nightmares
Summary: It is best that you remember her as she once was, not as she is now. After six months, Miranda visits Lizzie and finds she is not the same.


**IMPORTANT A/N: I feel that I must warn you: This is different from my previous works that have been posted on this account. It is neither a parody nor making fun of a certain writing style. It is meant to be a serious piece and comes out as so.**

**Rest assured that I am no stranger to writing angst. Contrary to popular beliefs, I can do more than corrupt innocent characters, although this does the same thing, just in a more angsty way. It is posted on this account because I didn't feel like putting it on my main one, though I do believe that the style is good enough (that's not to say that it is amazing, nor that my style in unbelievable).**

**I hope you enjoy this story, which bit me in the bum. Please leave a review. Flame me, praise me, and criticize me. I don't care. All three make my day.**

**RNJ**

**Disclaimer: Own it? I wish!**

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"She kicked! Oh Miranda, she kicked!" Lizzie McGuire held her hand over her stomach, a wide grin on her gaunt face. "Oh Miranda! Feel her! Feel her kick. Oh this is so exciting!" Miranda could only stare at the girl who only six months ago had been the quintessence of perfection.

"Lizzie…" She started, then paused, not quite sure how to continue. Lizzie didn't seem to notice the look of horror that crossed her friends face.

"Gordo will be so happy! He isn't here right now; he has to find a job to support us. We are going to be a family! Isn't that exciting? A real family. Oh I can't wait until he gets home. He will be so pleased that the baby kicked."

"_I should warn you-she is not the same person that she once was. She is physically there, but her mind is in another place, a much happier place."_

Miranda now understood the nurse's words. She now remembered why she had delayed visiting Lizzie for so long. Now that she had finally seen the girl, she wished she had not decided to see her in the first place. The thin girl with the greasy hair and unkempt appearance was not the lively, trendy girl that she had once known. But then again, in the final months, hadn't Lizzie already been descending into this…. this insanity? But the loss had been the final straw, the event that pushed the normally composed girl over the edge.

The events that led to this had transpired a mere six months ago, though it seemed so much longer.

"Miranda, have you seen Gordo? He needs to come and see this!" Gently, Miranda picked up Lizzie's frail had, appalled at how bony it seemed.

"Lizzie, you lost the baby. Remember?" Lizzie looked at her in confusion.

"No I didn't! Its right here silly!" She laid a hand on her flat stomach, rubbing it in a motion usually reserved for pregnant women.

"Lizzie…"

"You can be so strange. Now, where is Gordo?"

"He left. Remember?" Lizzie shook her head.

"Of course. He went to work!"

Miranda shook her head. Her mind drifted back to the start of everything,

They were in their senior year of high school. Lizzie and Gordo had been dating since freshman year, and were the golden couple of the school. She was pretty and popular, he handsome and smart. But then Lizzie had learned she was pregnant.

The news had shocked everyone, though in all actuality it should not have come as a surprise. It was a well-known fact that the two were sexually active, for neither had made much of an effort to conceal their activities, stealing away from a group with a knowing glance at their friends.

But then again, nobody expects such a terrible thing to happen to the perfect couple. It was assumed at that time that only poor girls and dumb whores got knocked up, not golden girls like Lizzie McGuire.

But there she was: undeniably pregnant. Gordo had been the perfect boyfriend upon learning that his girlfriend was having a child. Their parents had been less understanding, not quite comprehending the fact that their little babies were going to have babies of their own.

Many long discussion on just how to deal with it came about, but in the end, the golden couple decided that they could make it with the baby and decided that they would have it and keep it. Gordo would work, and as soon as Lizzie could she would as well. They would rent a small apartment (with help from their parents, of course) and forgo college for a few years until they were financially on their feet. They would marry straight out of high school because, as everyone knew, that was the right thing to do.

Ironically, it was after all the plans had been carefully made that things went to hell. Gordo got a job, and started to realize just how little he would make and just how much a child would cost. His grades suffered, a fate worse than death in his mind. He had to deal with Lizzie's constant mood swings, ranging from the extremely good to the horrible. He was stressed, tired, and just over the whole thing.

And they were only into her fourth or fifth month.

He had shuddered to think of how it would be when the child actually arrived.

Little by little, David Gordon had opened his eyes to just how blind they had truly been about the whole thing. They had thought it would be so simple, that love would get them through it. Now, he wasn't so sure. Who said it was even love anyways? They were only in high school. It usually took people ages to find their sole mates, and frankly, Gordo wanted to be positive that she was 'the one.'

Lizzie, it seemed, was blind to the insecurities that plagued Gordo. She was happy; happy to soak up all the attention everyone gave her. She was happy! She figured she would have married Gordo eventually. Things just happened a bit sooner than she thought. But it was okay with her; she had felt that summer that she had been slowly losing Gordo. This child would bring them closer. She was sure of it!

Needless to say, she was shocked when Gordo dumped her when she entered her sixth month of pregnancy.

"I can't do this! I can't handle a baby right now. I have big plans. I am going to be a star and I can't do that if I am tied down to a kid and a wife so young." Had been his words.

Lizzie was devastated.

It was around this time that she sunk into a deep depression. She ate little, saw few people, and all but stopped attending school. Visits from friends grew less and less frequent as she alienated everyone close to her.

But the final straw had been in her eighth month when the unthinkable happened: she lost the baby.

It was said that the stress had caused the miscarriage, and no one could argue with that. But that had completely destroyed the once vibrant young woman, and she had quickly descended into denial, and then, insanity.

She went along acting as though things were as they had been when she was first pregnant, when she didn't have a care in the world. She refused to acknowledge either the loss of the child or Gordo's desertion. One night, when her mother had tried to convince her, Lizzie had gone into a violent fit, attacking her mother.

The McGuire's realized they had no other choice other than to put her into a home, where there were people who could deal with her.

That was three months ago.

She had not gotten any better, Miranda could see. The girl still lived in her own little fantasyland, a place that Miranda could not bare to be in.

"Miranda? Hello? Do you know where Gordo is? Oh, never mind. He is working. If you see him, though, will you tell him to call me? But don't tell him the baby kicked. It is a surprise."

"I…I will tell him to call you if I see him." Miranda said, managing a weak smile.

"All Right. Bye!" Miranda could not escape fast enough.

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Later that night, Miranda dialed an unfamiliar number.

"Hello. David Gordon here."

"Gordo? Its me, Miranda."

"Oh…uh…hi."

"I uh…saw Lizzie today." There was silence. Gordo had had nothing to do with her since dumping her.

"How…how is she?"

"Not good. She thinks she is still pregnant. She kept asking when you would be there." There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the line.

"Should I go see her?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

"So why did you call me? I have things to do." Miranda paused. Why had she called Gordo, the one responsible for Lizzie's current state of mind?

"I just thought you should know."

"Well, now I know. Listen, I have got to go. Talk later?"

"Later." Echoed Miranda as she hung up.

Who's fault it was that Lizzie was like that would never truly be known. Some blamed Gordo, others her parents, and still others felt the blame rested solely on Lizzie herself. All Miranda knew she was not the same. Once more, the words of the young nurse who had allowed her to see Lizzie echoed through her mine.

"I strongly advise that you not see her. It is best that you just remember her as she once was, pretty and happy, not the shadow that she is now. Because once you see her now, you can never forget."

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**A/N: As I said: not like my other stories, aye?**

**RNJ**


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